DC govt explicitly said they were not emptying trash cans until after President's Day. Seems like a dumb idea to me, but the District public works types have been working tons on the snow removal so there may just not be anyone to do the work. In some areas, the Business Group (Dupont Circle for example) has hired people to do that kind of thing and they were emptied on Saturday.
see:
http://dpw.dc.gov/DC/DPW/About%20DPW/News%20Room/Press%20Releases/Snow%2C%20Presidents%20Day%20Affect%20DPW%20Services
[now why can't dc get normal links, is another mystery.]